CJAX-FM

For the old CKLG-FM, see CFOX-FM.

CJAX-FM

Vancouver, British Columbia
Broadcast area	Greater Vancouver
Frequency	96.9 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	Jack 96.9
Programming
Format	Adult hits HD2: CKWX All-News simulcast HD3: CISL Sports simulcast
Ownership
Owner	Rogers Radio (Rogers Media, Inc.)
Sister stations	CISL, CKWX, CKKS-FM, CKVU-DT, CHNM-DT
History
First air date	March 1, 1980;43 years ago (1980-03-01)
Former call signs	CJAZ-FM (1980-1985) CKKS-FM (1985-2002) CKLG-FM (2002-2014)
Former frequencies	92.1 MHz (1980-1984)
Call sign meaning	Sounds like "Jack"
Technical information
Class	C
ERP	32,000 watts 70,000 watts maximum
HAAT	707.4 metres (2,321 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	49°21′27″N122°57′14″W / 49.357365°N 122.953776°W / 49.357365; -122.953776 (CKLG-FM Tower)
Repeater(s)	CJAX-FM-1 96.9 (Whistler)
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	jack969.com

CJAX-FM (96.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia. Owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts an adult hits radio format branded as Jack 96.9. Its studios are at 2440 Ash Street in the Fairview neighbourhood of Vancouver. CJAX was the first conventional radio station in North America to adopt the "Jack" branding, officially classified as "variety hits" or "adult hits". Most "Jack" stations play a wide mix of music from the late 60s through the 90s, as well as some current and recent adult contemporary and hot adult contemporary singles.

CJAX-FM is a Class C station with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 32,000 watts (70,000 watts maximum). ^[1] The transmitter is atop Mount Seymour in the District of North Vancouver. Programming is simulcast on a 1,430-watt repeater, 96.9 CJAX-FM-1 in Whistler. ^[2]

History

Jazz and Urban AC

The station signed on the air on March 1, 1980;43 years ago (1980-03-01). Its original call sign was CJAZ-FM and it broadcast on 92.1 FM in Vancouver. It was owned by Selkirk Communications, airing an all-jazz format. It transmitted from Salt Spring Island at 100,000 watts. Although overall regional coverage was very good, poor stereo reception in the key Vancouver area led the station to make some changes in 1984. It switched its frequency to 96.9 MHz and it relocated its transmitter to Mountt Seymour.

Low ratings for its jazz sound led to a format change on September 15, 1985, when the station adopted an urban adult contemporary format, the first in Canada. It rebranded as FM 97 and the call sign was changed to CKKS-FM.

Adult Contemporary

About a year later, the station switched again. This time it began playing adult contemporary music with an on-air rebranding to 97 Kiss FM . Four years later, the station was sold to Maclean-Hunter Ltd, and in 1994 it became a part of Rogers Broadcasting. Rival station 103.5 CHQM-FM dropped its easy listening format in 1992, also switching to an AC sound. Its ratings surpassed CKKS as Vancouver's leading AC station, becoming Vancouver's most-listened-to FM station later on.

In 1988, the West Coast Community T.V. Association received CRTC approval to add a low-power transmitter at 102.7 MHz in Ucluelet to rebroadcast the programming of CKKS-FM. ^[3] The call sign for the Ucluelet transmitter (currently dark) is CIWC-FM.

Former Jack FM logo, used from 2002-2012.

Jack-FM

In early December of 2002, the station switched to Christmas music for the holidays. On Boxing Day, at 8 a.m., CKKS flipped to adult hits as Jack FM . The first song on "Jack" was "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC. The change ended the ten-year AC war in Vancouver, which meant that CHQM-FM became the only mainstream AC station in the Vancouver market.

Given the "attitude" inherent in the "Jack" brand, management felt that the call letters "CKKS" would maintain an undesirable association with Kiss-FM's "soft favourites" identity. As it turned out, in 2001, Corus Entertainment had abandoned the old CKLG call sign formerly assigned to one of its Vancouver AM stations (Mojo AM 730). Rogers applied to transfer these letters to Jack FM, and the station's call sign became CKLG-FM shortly thereafter. This was in part an attempt to trade on CKLG-AM's history as a popular Vancouver music station in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The move was successful, as Jack-FM's ratings increased dramatically, at one point briefly surpassing traditional market leader CKNW before settling into the upper rankings in the Vancouver market. (The CKKS call sign was subsequently given to a Sechelt rebroadcaster of CISQ-FM in Squamish, British Columbia.)

Former Jack FM logo, used from 2012-2017.

In July 2012, the station adopted the "Playing Whatever! Whenever!" slogan. The station also added in more recent adult contemporary and hot adult contemporary songs. In 2014, the call letters were changed again, this time to CJAX-FM to reflect the "Jack" branding.

Controversy

In 2005, some members of Vancouver's Indo-Canadian community accused the station of racial insensitivity. They objected to 96.9 Jack-FM's advertising strategy. ^{[4] [5]}

The ads in question featured Vijay Chandra, a Fijian radio engineer for the station with a strong South Asian accent, singing to promote Jack-FM's "Larry and Willy show". ^[6] The complaints stemmed from a perception that viewers are intended to laugh at Chandra's accent, rather than at the ad copy itself, and that similar lyrics performed without an accent would not be considered humorous.

HD Radio

In May 2016, CJAX began broadcasting using HD Radio technology. ^[7] On June 23, 2016, CJAX added a simulcast of all-news sister station 1130 CKWX on its HD2 digital subchannel. ^{[8] [9]} On August 28, 2017, CJAX added a simulcast of co-owned sports radio station 650 CISL to its HD3 subchannel.

References

1. FCCdata.org/CJAX-FM
2. Decision CRTC 2000-405
3. Decision CRTC 88-18
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-05-24. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
5. http://www.voiceonline.com/voice/050416/headline7.php%5B%5D
6. "96.9 jackfm.com". Archived from the original on 2006-09-02. Retrieved 2006-08-17.
7. "Canadian Radio News on Facebook". Facebook . Archived from the original on 2022-04-27.^{[ user-generated source ]}
8. "Canadian Radio News on Facebook". Facebook . Archived from the original on 2022-04-27.^{[ user-generated source ]}
9. http://hdradio.com/canada/find-hd-radio-canadian-station HD Radio Stations in Canada

External links

• Jack 96.9
• CJAX-FM at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the Canadian Communications Foundation
• CKLG-FM in the REC Canadian station database
• CIWC-FM in the REC Canadian station database